Method, system and program product for providing a status of a transaction with an application on a server

ABSTRACT

Under the present invention, polling code is generated on a server and sent to a client in response to a transaction request received on the server from the client. The polling code includes a set of parameters such as a delay time and a polling count. After expiration of the delay time, the client will poll the server to request the status of the requested transaction. If the transaction is complete, the client will be redirected to a completion page. If the transaction is incomplete, and a polling count limit has not been reached, new polling code will be generated that includes the delay time and a new polling count. The new polling count is generated by incrementing the old polling count by one. The polling cycle is repeated until the transaction is complete, or the polling count limit is reached.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

In general, the present invention provides a method, system and programproduct for providing a status of a transaction with an application on aserver. Specifically, the present invention allows a server to be polledfrom a client to detect the status of a transaction independent of apersistent network connection.

2. Related Art

As computer technology becomes more advanced, computer users areincreasingly being provided with the capability to conduct businessand/or personal transactions from their home or office computers. Forexample, today a computer user can purchase goods/services, pay billsand manage a business over a computer network such as the Internet. Ingeneral, a network-based transaction occurs in a client-serverenvironment with the computer system operated by the user being theclient, and the computer system with which the client communicates beingthe server. To conduct a transaction, the client will typicallyestablish a connection with the server and then transmit a request(e.g., a HTTP request) thereto. Upon receipt, the server will invoke oneor more applications to process the request.

Unfortunately, as is well known, network connections between a clientand a server often suffer various interruptions. Such interruptions canbe due to, for example, a high volume of network traffic being receivedby the server, service provider errors, etc. In any event, theinterruption of the connection often leads to loss of data, which canundermine the transaction being requested by the client. This isespecially the case where the transaction takes an appreciable amount oftime to process. For example, if a computer user is attempting topurchase goods on-line, the transaction could involve verifying creditcard information. Verifying credit card information can require anapplication on the server to interact with one or more “externalresources” (e.g., a bank). As such, verification of credit cardinformation can often take several minutes.

While the transaction is being processed, status information is oftendesired by the computer user (especially for more time consumingtransactions such as credit card verification). Specifically, thecomputer user often wishes to know whether the transaction is stillpending, has been completed or has timed out. Previous systems forcommunicating transaction information to the computer users, however,all relied upon a persistent connection between the client and theserver. Under such systems, as the connections were interrupted, thestatus information was lost or delayed. Since the persistence of aconnection between a server and client is extremely difficult if notimpossible to ensure, the previous systems failed to provide a reliableway of obtaining transaction status information.

In view of the foregoing, there exists a need for a method, system andprogram product for providing a status of a transaction with anapplication on a server. Specifically, a need exists for a system thatallows a server to be polled from a client to detect the status of atransaction on a server. To this extent, a need exists for a system thatallows a “stateful” relationship between a client and server to bemaintained independent of a persistent network connection. A furtherneed exists for a system that provides a flexible/defineable pollingcycle and algorithm that is based on standard Internet technologycomponents, and that is concealed from an end user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In general, the present invention provides a method, system and programproduct for providing a status of a transaction with an application on aserver. Specifically, under the present invention, a request for atransaction is communicated to the server from a client (e.g., from abrowser on the client). A server agent on the server will initiate thetransaction by invoking an application to process the request.Thereafter, the server agent will call a client code generator, whichwill generate polling code. Typically, the polling code includes aUniform Resource Locator (URL) that includes a set of parameters andidentifies the transaction requested. The set of parameters generallyincludes a polling count and a delay time. The polling code iscommunicated to the client, which after the delay time, will poll theserver for a status of the transaction by communicating the URL to theserver agent. Upon receipt, the server agent will use the information inthe URL to determine the status of the transaction. If the transactionis complete, the client code generator will redirect the client to acompletion (web) page. If the transaction is not complete, and thepolling count identified in the URL equals a polling count limit, theclient is redirected to an exception (web) page. However, if thetransaction is not complete and the polling count limit has not beenreached, the client code generator will generate a new polling code andthe cycle will be repeated until the limit is reached or the transactionis complete.

A first aspect of the present invention provides a method for providinga status of a transaction with an application on a server, comprising:receiving a request for a transaction on the server from a client;invoking the application on the server to process the request;generating a first polling code having a first Uniform Resource Locator(URL) that includes a first set of parameters, and sending the firstpolling code to the client; and communicating the first URL from theclient to the server to request the status of the transaction.

A second aspect of the present invention provides a method for providinga status of a transaction with an application on a server, comprising:receiving a HTTP request for a transaction on the server from a browseron a client; invoking the application on the server to process the HTTPrequest; calling a client code generator on the server to generate afirst polling code having a first Uniform Resource Locator (URL) thatincludes a first set of parameters, wherein the first set of parameterscomprises a delay time and a polling count; sending the first pollingcode to the browser; and communicating the first URL in the firstpolling code from the browser to a server agent on the server afterexpiration of the delay time to request the status of the transaction.

A third aspect of the present invention provides a system for providinga status of a transaction with an application on a server, comprising: aserver agent for receiving a request for the transaction from a client,and for initiating the transaction based on the request; a client codegenerator invoked by the server agent for generating a first pollingcode having a first Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that includes a firstset of parameters, and for sending the first polling code to the client,wherein the client communicates the first URL to the server agent torequest the status of the transaction.

A fourth aspect of the present invention provides a program productstored on a recordable medium for providing a status of a transactionwith an application on a server, which when executed, comprises: agentprogram code configured to receive a request for the transaction from aclient, and to initiate the transaction based on the request; generatorprogram code invoked by the agent program code configured to generate afirst polling code having a first Uniform Resource Locator (URL) thatincludes a first set of parameters, and to send the first polling codeto the client, wherein the client communicates the first URL to theagent program code to request the status of the transaction.

Therefore, the present invention provides a method, system and programproduct for providing a status of a transaction with an application on aserver.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of this invention will be more readilyunderstood from the following detailed description of the variousaspects of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a system for providing a status of a transaction with anapplication on a server, according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 depicts method flow diagram, according to the present invention.

The drawings are merely schematic representations, not intended toportray specific parameters of the invention. The drawings are intendedto depict only typical embodiments of the invention, and thereforeshould not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention. In thedrawings, like numbering represents like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As indicated above, the present invention provides a method, system andprogram product for providing a status of a transaction with anapplication on a server. Specifically, under the present invention, arequest for a transaction is communicated to the server from a client(e.g., from a browser on the client). A server agent on the server willinitiate the transaction by invoking an application to process therequest. Thereafter, the server agent will call a client code generator,which will generate polling code. Typically, the polling code includes aUniform Resource Locator (URL) that includes a set of parameters andidentifies the transaction requested. The set of parameters generallyincludes a polling count and a delay time. The polling code iscommunicated to the client, which after the delay time, will poll theserver for a status of the transaction by communicating the URL to theserver agent. Upon receipt, the server agent will use the information inthe URL to determine the status of the transaction. If the transactionis complete, the client code generator will redirect the client to acompletion (web) page. If the transaction is not complete, and thepolling count identified in the URL equals a polling count limit., theclient is redirected to an exception (web) page. However, if thetransaction is not complete and the polling count limit has not beenreached, the client code generator will generate a new polling code andthe cycle will be repeated until the limit is reached or the transactionis complete. Therefore, the present invention allows a status of atransaction to be provided without relying on a persistent networkconnection between the server and the client. Moreover, the presentinvention allows the polling to be concealed from the user.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a system 10 for providing a status of atransaction with an application 32 on server 12 is shown. In general,client 34 will communicate with server 12 to conduct a transaction andobtain transaction status information. To this extent, client 34 isintended to represent any type of computerized system that is capable ofcommunicating with server 12. For example, client 34 could be a personalcomputer, a laptop, a workstation, a hand held device, etc. In anyevent, as depicted, server 12 generally comprises central processingunit (CPU) 14, memory 16, bus 18, input/output (I/O) interfaces 20,external devices/resources 22 and storage unit 24.

CPU 14 may comprise a single processing unit, or be distributed acrossone or more processing units in one or more locations e.g., on a clientand server. Memory 16 may comprise any known type of data storage and/ortransmission media, including magnetic media, optical media, randomaccess memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a data cache, a dataobject, etc. Moreover, similar to CPU 14, memory 16 may reside at asingle physical location, comprising one or more types of data storage,or be distributed across a plurality of physical systems in variousforms.

I/O interfaces 20 may comprise any system for exchanging informationto/from an external source. External devices/resources 22 may compriseany known type of external device, including speakers, a CRT, LCDscreen, hand-held device, keyboard, mouse, voice recognition system,speech output system, printer, monitor/display, facsimile, pager, etc.Bus 18 provides a communication link between each of the components inserver 12 and likewise may comprise any known type of transmission link,including electrical, optical, wireless, etc.

Storage unit 24 can be any system (e.g., a database) capable ofproviding storage for information such as transaction information,parameters, URLs, etc. under the present invention. As such, storageunit 24 could include one or more storage devices, such as a magneticdisk drive or an optical disk drive. In another embodiment, storage unit24 includes data distributed across, for example, a local area network(LAN), wide area network (WAN) or a storage area network (SAN) (notshown). It should also be understood that although not shown, additionalcomponents, such as cache memory, communication systems, systemsoftware, etc., may be incorporated into server 12. It should beunderstood that although not shown, client 34 will typically includecomputer components similar to server 12.

Communication between server 12 and client 34 could occur via any knownmanner. For example, such communication could occur via a directhardwired connection (e.g., serial port), or via an addressableconnection that may utilize any combination of wireline and/or wirelesstransmission methods. In any event, server 12 and client 34 may beconnected via the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), a local areanetwork (LAN), a virtual private network (VPN) or other private network.Server 12 and client 34 may utilize conventional network connectivity,such as Token Ring, Ethernet, WiFi or other conventional communicationsstandards. Where client 34 communicates with server 12 via the Internet,connectivity could be provided by conventional TCP/IP sockets-basedprotocol. In this instance, client 34 would utilize an Internet serviceprovider to establish connectivity to the server.

Shown in memory 16 of server 12 is transaction management system 26 andapplication 32. Transaction management system 26 includes server agent28 and client code generator 30. Server agent 28 can be implementedusing any known technology. For example, server agent 28 could be aservlet, and Enterprise Java Bean (EJB), etc. In any event, when user 40wishes to interact with server 12 (e.g., to purchase goods/servicesonline), user 40 will input information into browser 36. Suchinformation could include, for example, credit card information thatmust be verified. In this example, the credit card information will betransmitted to server 12 as a (Hypertext Transfer Protocol “HTTP”)request. Upon receipt, server agent 28 will initiate the transaction(e.g., credit card verification) by invoking application 32 to processthe request. For example, application 32 could be a financial processingapplication. In verifying the credit card information, application 32might communicate with one or more external resources 42 (e.g., abanking infrastructure). To this extent, external resource 42 couldinclude personnel, hardware, software, or any combination thereof.Regardless, after invoking application 32, server agent 28 willinitiate/call client code generator 30, which will generate pollingcode.

In a typical embodiment, client code generator 30 generates polling codethat can be run by script system 38 within browser 36. Typically, thepolling code includes a URL that includes a set of parameters andidentifies the transaction that Was requested (e.g., credit cardverification). Typically, the set of parameters are derived from aconfiguration of server agent 28. To this extent, the set of parameterscan be hardcoded into server agent 28, derived from a configuration filethat is accessible to server agent 28, etc. In any event, theconfiguration of server agent 28 generally includes a delay time, apolling count and a polling count limit. The delay time dictates howlong the polling code is suspended in browser 36 before execution byscript system 38. The polling count indicates how many polling cycleshave been processed. The polling count limit dictates the maximum numberof polling cycles to be performed before the polling loop is exited andan exception is generated. Listed below is an illustrative parameterconfiguration of server agent 28.

PARAMETER VALUE DESCRIPTION Delay 15 Seconds How long execution ofpolling code is suspended in browser Polling Count 1 How many pollingcycles have been processed Polling Count Limit 3 How many polling cyclesoccur before polling loop is exitedBased on this configuration, client code generator 30 will generatepolling code having the following parameters:

PARAMETER VALUE DESCRIPTION Delay 15 Seconds How long execution ofpolling code is suspended in browser Polling Count 1 How many pollingcycles have been processedThese parameters are included in the polling code as a URL that alsoidentifies the transaction requested. The polling code is sent tobrowser 36. Upon receipt, script system 38 will execute the polling codeafter expiration of the delay time (e.g., 15 seconds). Execution of thepolling code will cause client 34 to poll server 12 to request thestatus of the transaction by communicating the URL from browser 36 toserver agent 28. Upon receipt, server agent 28 will process the URL tocheck the status of the transaction (e.g., by querying application 32 ora transaction monitor, etc.). If the transaction is complete, serveragent 28 will call client code generator 30, which will generate andcommunicate completion code to client 34. The completion code causesbrowser 36 to be redirected to a completion (web) page. If, however, thetransaction is not complete, server agent 28 will compare the pollingcount in the URL to the polling count limit in its configuration. Inthis example, the polling count is “1” and the polling count limit is“3.” Accordingly, the limit has not been reached.

Since the polling count limit has not been reached, server agent 28 willrepeat the cycle by calling client code generator 30 to generate asecond polling code with the following values.

PARAMETER VALUE DESCRIPTION Delay 15 Seconds How long execution ofpolling code is suspended in browser Polling Count 2 How many pollingcycles have been processedAs can be seen, the delay time remained the same, but the polling counthas been incremented by one. These parameters are included in the secondpolling code as a second URL that also identifies the transaction.Similar to the first polling code, the second polling code is sent tobrowser 26 on client 34. After expiration of the delay time, scriptsystem 38 will execute the second polling code. That is, client 34 willpoll server 12 to request the status of the transaction by communicatingthe second URL from browser 36 to server agent 28. Upon receipt, serveragent 28 will again check the status of the transaction. If thetransaction is complete, server agent 28 will call client code generator30, which will communicate completion code to client 34 that causesbrowser 36 to be redirected to a completion (web) page. If thetransaction is not yet complete, server agent 28 will determine whetherthe polling count limit of “3” has been reached. Since, the pollingcount in the second URL is “2” and the polling count limit is “3,” thepolling count limit has not been reached.

In this case, server agent 28 will once again call client code generator30 to generate a third polling code. In generating the third pollingcode, client code generator 30 will increment the polling count by one.Accordingly, the following values will result:

PARAMETER VALUE DESCRIPTION Delay 15 Seconds How long execution ofpolling code is suspended in browser Polling Count 3 How many pollingcycles have been processedThese parameters will be included in a third URL that also identifiesthe transaction. Similar to the previous cycles, the third polling codeincluding the third URL is sent to browser 36 on client 34. Afterexpiration of the delay time, script system 38 will execute the thirdpolling code. That is, server 12 will be polled by communicating thethird URL from browser 36 on client 34 to server agent 28. Uponreceiving the third URL, server agent 28 will once again determine thestatus of the transaction. If the transaction is complete, server agent28 will call client code generator 30, which will generate completioncode that causes browser 36 to be redirected to a completion (web) page.However, if the transaction is not complete, server agent 28 willdetermine whether the polling count limit has been reached. Since thepolling count identified in the third URL is “3” and the polling countlimit is “3,” the polling count limit has been reached in this example.Since the transaction is incomplete and the polling count limit has beenreached, the cycle ends. Thus, server agent 28 will call client codegenerator 30, which will generate exception code. The exception code iscommunicated to client 34 and causes browser 36 to be redirected to anexception (Web) page.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a method flow diagram 50 according to thepresent invention is shown. As depicted, first step S1 in method 50 isto transmit a request for a transaction from the browser to the server.In step S2, the server agent will initiate the transaction by invokingan application to process the request. In step S3, the server agent willcall the client code generator. In step S4, the client code generatorwill generate and send polling code to the browser. As indicated above,the polling code is based on a configuration of the server agent andincludes the parameters of delay time and polling count. The parametersas well as transaction are identified in a URL within the polling codethat is sent to the browser. In step S5, the browser will communicatethe URL in the polling code to the server agent after expiration of thedelay time. In step S6, the server agent will determine whether thetransaction is complete. If the transaction is complete, the serveragent will call the client code generator, which will generatecompletion code to redirect browser to a completion page in step S7. Ifthe transaction was not complete, the server agent will determinewhether the polling count limit has been reached in step S8. If it hasthe client code generator will be called and will generate exceptioncode to redirect the browser to an exception page in step S9. If,however, the polling count limit has not been reached, the server agentwill call the client code generator to generate a new polling code sothat the cycle can be repeated.

It should be understood that the present invention can be realized inhardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. Any kindof computer/server system(s)—or other apparatus adapted for carrying outthe methods described herein—is suited. A typical combination ofhardware and software could be a general purpose computer system with acomputer program that, when loaded and executed, carries out therespective methods described herein. Alternatively, a specific usecomputer, containing specialized hardware for carrying out one or moreof the functional tasks of the invention, could be utilized. The presentinvention can also be embedded in a computer program product, whichcomprises all the respective features enabling the implementation of themethods described herein, and which—when loaded in a computer system—isable to carry out these methods. Computer program, software program,program, or software, in the present context mean any expression, in anylanguage, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause asystem having an information processing capability to perform aparticular function either directly or after either or both of thefollowing: (a) conversion to another language, code or notation; and/or(b) reproduction in a different material form.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of this inventionhas been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It isnot intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the preciseform disclosed, and obviously, many modifications and variations arepossible. Such modifications and variations that may be apparent to aperson skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scopeof this invention as defined by the accompanying claims. For example,although the present invention was described in the context of creditcard verification, the teachings described herein can be used to providea status of any type of transaction. Moreover, it should be understoodthat the values of the parameters used herein are intended to beillustrative only.

1. A method for providing a status of a transaction with an applicationon a server, comprising: receiving a HTTP request for a transaction onthe server from a browser on a client; invoking the application on theserver to process the HTTP request; calling a client code generator togenerate a first polling code having a first Uniform Resource Locator(URL) that includes a first set of parameters, wherein the first set ofparameters comprises a delay time and a polling count; sending the firstpolling code to the browser; communicating the first URL in the firstpolling code from file browser to a server agent on the server afterexpiration of the delay time to request file status of file transaction;generating a second polling code having a second Uniform ResourceLocator (URL) that identifies a second set of parameters and thetransaction requested if the transaction is incomplete and the pollingcount does not equal a polling count limit, wherein the second set ofparameters comprises the delay time and a new polling count; sending thesecond polling code to the browser; and communicating the second URL inthe second polling code from the browser to the server after expirationof the delay time to request the status of the transaction.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first is processed by the sex-vet agenton the server to determine the status of the transaction.
 3. The methodof claim 1, further comprising directing the browser to a completionpage if the transaction is complete.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising directing the browser to an exception page if the transactionis incomplete and the polling count equals a polling count limit.
 5. Aprogram product stored on a storage unit computer readable storagemedium for providing a status of a transaction with an application on aserver, which when executed, comprises: agent program code configured toreceived a HTTP request for the transaction from a browser on a client,and to initiate the transaction based on the request; generator programcode invoked by the agent program code configured to generate a firstpolling code having a first Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that includesa first set of parameters, wherein the first set of parameters includesa delay time and a polling count, and to send the first polling code tothe client, wherein the client communicates the first URL in the firstpolling code to the agent program code after expiration of the delaytime to request the status of the transaction; wherein the agent programcode is further configured to process the first URL to determine thestatus of the transaction, and to invoke the generator program code togenerate a second polling code having a second URL that identifies asecond set of parameters and the transaction requested if thetransaction is incomplete and the polling count does not equal a pollingcount limit, send the second polling code to the browser and communicatethe second URL in the second polling code from the browser to the serverafter expiration of the delay time to request the status of thetransaction, wherein the second set of parameters comprises the delaytime mad a new polling count.
 6. The program product of claim 5, whereinthe client comprises a browser configured to receive the first pollingcode, and to communicate the first URL to the agent program code afterexpiration of the delay time.
 7. The program product of claim 5, andwherein the generator program code increments the polling count of thefirst set of parameters by one to yield the new polling count.